primary runoff elections for Mayor of Detroit held last week
New voting machines are good, voter turnout bad for Detroit primaryQuote:
...........The new machines came about because of irregularities during last year’s presidential election recount and as a commission appointed by the president looks into questions of voter integrity across the country.
Detroit is the biggest of 60 cities that switched to the new voting machines. According to a Free Press article, 45 counties will have the new equipment by November. Tuesday’s primary election produced a small turnover, but the new machines posed no issues..............
turnout wasnt the only issue though some voters went away without being able to vote.
Detroit primary marked by light turnout, minor voting glitchesQuote:
.........Detroit kicked off primary election day this morning with a light turnout marked by a few minor snafus at polling places.
"It has been lighter than expected,'' said Daniel Baxter, deputy clerk for the city of Detroit. "We expected it to be between 10 and 15% and right now it's about 2.1% as of 11 o'clock. We don't anticipate it getting any better this afternoon and into the evening.''
One polling place just north of Midtown ended up opening late.
And at another location in southwest Detroit, an elevator was out of service — meaning voters had to climb the stairs to cast their ballots.
At Gee Edmonson Academy on Canfield south of Forest, polls were closed for the first 80 minutes of voting Tuesday morning after a janitor couldn't find the key to unlock the equipment.
Workers arrived at the school at 5:45 a.m., and the problems started there.
“We got here and the custodian let us in the building,’’ said A. Jones, a precinct supervisor. “Once we got in, the equipment was locked up in the computer room. ... I called the election commission and let them know what was going on, and somebody was on their way a little after 7. We got the equipment at 7:40 and we were able to set up.
“We processed our first voter at this station at 8:20.’’
With the voting booths and ballots under lock and key, some potential voters went away without casting a ballot............
and when this happens it sets the stage for the Mayor to proclaim that the majority of the 10 to 12% turnout that werent turned away or prevented from voting proves there are not 2 Detroits.
Duggan calls 'two Detroits' narrative 'fiction' on heels of big primary winQuote:
t's a cliché: "A tale of two Detroits." The stark disparities between Detroit's increasingly gleaming downtown and crumbling neighborhoods is well-known, well-documented, and clear to anyone with eyeballs who has ever set foot in the city before. There are plenty of other well-documented names for the phenomenon — like "Gilbertville," or "The 7.2," as in the number of square miles of downtown and Midtown that have seen investments in recent years. (Of course, there are pockets of the city beyond this area that are also doing well.)
To the point: "Two Detroits" is a thing. And it was undoubtedly the theme of Detroit's mayoral primary campaign season, seized in particular by Coleman Young II, the top contender against incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan in November.
"[40 percent] of the city is living in poverty," Young told us. "Whatever [city officials] are trying to turn is clearly not working for almost half the city." When asked about Detroit's "turnaround," the dozen other candidates who were vying for Duggan's job had similar things to say.........
kind of one of those things about judging a book by its cover, the results of an election tells a story yes but is it necessarily what it looks like on the surface.
Coleman Young II talks Detroit electionvideo interview with Coleman Young Jr. candidate for Mayor, interesting exchange on the value of election contributions and money as it relates to winning elections.